Put your Reputation on the Line

It’s a bit like telling all your family and friends when you’re starting a diet or quitting smoking. Your reputation is on the line. Powerful incentive for task completion!

We all know how easy it is to put off things that are a little risky.

What if something comes up and we’re not ready?

Something will always come up if we start out with that possibility in mind. We’re busy – we lose focus. Opportunity knocks every day for entrepreneurs, and we’re right there to open the door.

One way to get motivated is to create a deadline – one that other people know about. As professionals and small business owners, our reputation is of the utmost importance to our continued success.

Put your reputation on the line and you will get things done. And that should grow your reputation more.

originally published in Work Better, Not Harder newsletter Mar-12-14

Click to Tweet this Article
Click to Comment

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Content Ideas for Consultants - Getting Started (Part 1)

Image
Just this week I heard it again: “If I start a newsletter, what would I put in it?” While I can think of lots of content ideas for just about any business owner I meet, it’s not so easy for everyone. In fact, it wasn’t always easy for me either. It gets easier, and you get better, with practice. For consultants, there’s an added bonus to spending time creating marketing content and that's learning . Benjamin Franklin said, “There is no better way to learn than to teach.” Sharing valuable content is teaching and, when you’re creating content for your blog or newsletter, you’ll also be doing research, checking assumptions, and developing opinions . If you’re a new business owner, or new to developing content, finding a place to start might feel like picking a needle out of a haystack. In this series of posts, I'll explain how to get started and accomplish other goals, too. Build Your Confidence Since confidence comes from writing about what you know , start with crea...
Keep reading »

25 Ways to Help Another Small Business Owner

Image
This list was inspired by 25 Ways to Help a Fellow Human Being Today and co-authored by my Twitter colleague @LinosVersion . When we help each other, we all grow stronger! Give them a testimonial. Make it social and do it on LinkedIn or Twitter. Tell someone about their business and products/services. Shop at their store, online or off. Offer some free advice or constructive feedback. Offer to mentor a newbie. Check out futurpreneur.ca . Welcome new business owners to your community - stop by with donuts. Send an inspirational or congratulatory card by snail mail. Introduce two business owners who may benefit from the connection. Promote 'Shop Local' and feature local small businesses. Write a blog about something you learned from another business owner and give them a shout-out. Put on a free learning event, such as a lunch and learn, and invite local business owners. On Facebook, share their business page with a shout-out. Retweet messages from small busine...
Keep reading »

List Building Strategies for Networking Associations

Image
Networking groups usually get their work done by volunteer members, and those roles change frequently, so maintaining a consistent list building process is a challenge. Here are some simple recommendations to make sure you don't lose focus on this key membership building strategy. Growing your list means growing your membership. Have a sign-up form on your group’s website or blog. This is a must! Make list building a regular part of every meeting.  Here are some ways to do that so members can easily take turns. Use technology and do it ‘live’. Bring up the sign-up form on someone’s phone or tablet and pass it to visitors to enter their email address. At a point in each meeting, direct visitors to pull out their phones and guide them to your website to sign themselves up. Collect business cards and have one person enter the email addresses during or after the meeting. Don’t forget to get new members to sign themselves up , or do it for them. Read this blog post f...
Keep reading »

Best Beginner Business Blogging Advice

Image
If you're planning to begin blogging for your business, I'd like to shorten your learning curve. Because, oh boy, do you ever have lots to learn. The good news is that you don't need to know it all before you start, and learning as you go is fun. I asked a couple of award-winning business bloggers to give me their best advice for beginners so I can pass it onto you. Mary Jane Copps , aka The Phone Lady , has been blogging weekly for her business since 2009. Here's what she says: 1. Embrace a schedule. While it feels daunting to commit to a daily, weekly or monthly blog, staying true to a posting schedule will make you a better writer, and you will develop the ability to create and uncover great story ideas. 2. Be observant; write it down. No matter what the theme of your blog, things will appear in your life each day that can become a post. Stay present to every phone call, meeting and event. Great content is everywhere. But don't rely on your memory; keepi...
Keep reading »

Your Marketing Made Easy

Image
We have a LOT of options when it comes to our online marketing. The choices can be staggering, often leading to no action at all. Yesterday I had the opportunity to participate as a facilitator at the Your Marketing Made Easy conference in Regina, SK. 10 facilitators, 16 workshops - covering topics like social media, blogging, email marketing, SEO, event marketing, web usability, and so much more. It was a fun and inspiring day! My only regret is that I didn't get to attend many of the workshops put on by the other facilitators. photo by  Alvil Tayco on Twitter Click to Tweet this Article
Keep reading »

Stop Saying "Feel Free"

Image
The next time you start to type “Feel free to phone or email me” -- Stop. If you’re in business, shouldn't it be obvious that you want calls and emails? "Feel free..." is a little wishy-washy, like using the word “just” . Instead, use a more direct call to action . Assume that people will have questions, concerns or feedback. “Call or email with your questions and concerns.” “Questions? Call or email – I’ll be happy to answer them.” “Tell me what you think of this. By phone or email is fine, at your convenience.” Even better, be specific about the type of response you desire . “Call me Friday morning so I can answer your questions and we can discuss the next steps.” “Send me your questions by email so I can give you detailed answers.” Create your own unique version of this call to action , use it, make it a habit -- make it part of your brand. Not only does “feel free” send the wrong message, it’s overused. This is an opportunity for you to stand out. Cli...
Keep reading »

The Anti-spam Revolution

There’s a bit of a kerfuffle lately about the new Canadian anti-spam regulations (CASL) . Organizations are busy pushing out emails asking us to re-opt-in to their mailing lists before July 1st. Are you wondering what it’s all about? Or are you ignoring it, hoping it will never impact you? As a small business owner, you should know the basics because, unless you plan to stop doing emails, text messages, and social media posts, your business communication is regulated by the new law. It’s not just about these enewsletters. First, only commercial electronic messages (CEMs) fall under the regulations. Your message is a CEM if it encourages participation in a business transaction or activity, regardless of whether there is an expectation of profit . Many emails, texts, and social media posts sent on behalf of your business are going to be CEMs. Now you know that you need to know. Read my blog post CASL Basics for Small Business for a quick overview. You can find lots of information ...
Keep reading »

e-mail or email?

Image
How do you spell it? During a recent workshop with Twirp Communications , I was updating the keywords on my LinkedIn profile . After proudly doing the update quickly, Anita searched on one of my keywords. Immediately she spotted a disconnect. I had spelled 'email', but she had spelled 'e-mail' when she searched. Now I have to admit, I'm prejudiced against hyphens. I don't know why, but I try to avoid them unless they're necessary. We had an 'internal communication' here at Daley Progress (Danielle and I talked) about it just a couple of days before the workshop and we had decided to standardize all our usage to the un-hyphenated versions of 'email' and 'enewsletters'. How foolish of us to think that prospects and colleagues will use the search terms we want them to use! Now we will have to re-visit all of our online content, with a view to making it more 'search friendly' - rather than about what we like. Who knew ...
Keep reading »

eMail Marketing - Back to Basics

Image
There are so many things to consider and details to look after when it comes to email marketing that the big picture can easily be lost. Here is what small business owners like us always need to keep in mind: #1. You want your subscribers to be from your target market , or have influence with your target market. #2. To get and keep those subscribers, your content - whether it's articles or advertisements - needs to be interesting or useful to your target market. Let me repeat that: your content is for your target market. Which means it's not about you - and doesn't even have to be about what you do . If you are starting out, before you think about what you want to include, first think about what your subscribers would want. If you can find an answer to this question, you've got it made: What can you give your target market that they can't get anywhere else? Click to Tweet this Article
Keep reading »

Reducing the Noise

One problem with the current social media soup is the high noise to relevant signal ratio. The most effective way to deal with this problem is to find accepted and popular experts in your field of interest and subscribe to their feeds. This will lead you to relevant online communities from which you can find and share pertinent advice and draw new customers. This approach will work much better than broad monitoring of many social media services because it will greatly reduce the noise you will need browse and therefore, the time you need to spend building your online reputation. Click to Tweet the Article
Keep reading »